


trust

by wallyedmund (RangerDew)



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions, Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Identity Issues, Mystery, Post-Game, Ratings and Warnings Subject to Change, i would add more tags but that would spoil it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:26:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22224043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RangerDew/pseuds/wallyedmund
Summary: Hop comes home after five years of no contact with his friends or family. Bede offers to be his roommate. It may be the best or worst decision of his life.
Relationships: Beet | Bede & Hop
Comments: 8
Kudos: 36





	trust

**Author's Note:**

> don't expect the writing to be fantastic or whatever i just wanted to get my story out there. sometimes i'll make sure a story is as perfect as possible before posting this is not one of them.

There’s a man in white hair collapsed on Bede’s doorstep.

He freaks out, of course. There’s a trail of blood running from his forehead, and a couple bruises scattered over his arms. The blood is revolting, but Bede runs forward, checks his pulse - still beating - and hurriedly moves to his Rotom Phone to call the nearest hospital.

Then the man pulls his head up, and Bede is sure he’s hallucinating.

His hair is white now, but his eyes are still the same shade of bright gold that they’ve always been.

The man clears his throat awkwardly. Bede drops his phone.

This is the day Bede’s life changes. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


“You’ve been missing for five years now.”

“...Yeah.”

“Most of your family thinks you’re dead.”

“...But not my brother, right?”

“Speak up. You’re a lot quieter than I remember.”

“Does my brother think so? That I’m dead?” 

“...No. He still thinks you’re out there. Which, evidently, you are. And what are you going to do now? Tell him?”

Hop’s eyes take on a desperate quality. “I’d prefer you not.”

“Why?”

“Please. Just trust me.”

Maybe it was something about the way he said it, or maybe it was Bede’s guilt. Either way, he picks at the bandages around his wrist and keeps quiet.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“You’re leaving?”

“Yes?”

“To where?”

Hop shrugs. “I dunno. Wherever I can find.”

“...So you’re homeless, jobless, and I just found you with a crack in your head and bruises all over your arms. Are you in contact with some kind of criminal group?”

“What! No! Uh, what qualifies as a criminal group?”

“Are you kidding? Here, I’ll call my League friends and we can all come together and defeat them for you-”

Hop holds up a hand. “I’m kidding. There’s no criminal group. It’s just been a tough five years.”

“A tough five years give you white hair at the tender age of twenty? Yeah, right.”

Hop scowls. “I dyed it.”

“Awful choice.”

“Like you’re one to talk.”

Bede’s eyes can’t help but wander to the plethora of bruises gathered on Hop’s arms.

“If you have nowhere to stay, stay with me,” he blurts.

Hop looks at him incredulously. “What?”

“You’ve got nowhere to go, right? I have a spare bedroom, and right now its only occupant is my Queen, who only uses it sometimes.” He shrugs. “You’re free to move in.”

Hop raises his eyebrows. “Queen?”

“My Hatterene.”

“I see. She won’t be mad that some stranger from five years ago showed up to take your room?” 

Bede waves his hand. He notices how Hop’s eyes catch on the stark white bandages wrapped against his wrist. “She’ll understand.”

Hop stares at his hands for a long while. Bede stares at Hop. Then, Hop says, “Alright. I’ll stay.”

“Great. I’ll get you situated.”

“As long as you don’t tell my brother I’m here. Or anyone who could tell my brother. At all.”

“...Hm.”

“I’m serious. I’ll leave.”

“Fine. It’s a promise.”

* * *

“Am I allowed to tell anyone else you’re here?”

“Who’s ‘anyone else’?”

“Sonia, Gloria, Marnie… you know. Any of your old friends?”

“...No.”

“Your parents?”

“Please don’t.”

“What’s with all the mystery? You know how suspicious you seem, right? You suddenly pop up at my doorstep, bleeding, after nearly five years of no contact. The Gym Leaders are strong, you know. I’m serious when I say we can beat up anyone who’s bothering you.”

“No one’s bothering me, Bede. I’m just not ready to face them yet.” 

\--

  
  


They settle into a steady rhythm. Bede wakes up, cooks up whatever epensive food he has in his cupboard, and leaves to go train at the Gym. Hop watches his house, and when he comes back Hop usually retreats from the living room where he had been sitting into the guest room Bede had given him. Bede doesn’t ask about the bruises, and Hop doesn’t ask about the bandages. A silent mutual agreement.

It’s actually a bit hard to keep the situation from Opal. Bede swears she knows everything; just the other day she’d told him he was lacking in Vitamin D, and when he went to the doctor a few days after the doctor had, indeed, confirmed he was severely in need of more sunlight. Nowadays, as Hop hides away in his guest room, Opal shoots him knowing looks and sly smiles. It’s okay if the gran knows, though. Bede doesn’t know why Hop was so desperate to keep his presence a secret, but it’s not as if Opal was going to broadcast it to the whole region.

Bede still has no idea why Hop is here, or why he came back after five long years. Every time he tries to subtly bring it up, Hop either ignores him or changes the topic drastically. Bede has learned not to press.

It’s a bit nice having Hop here, though. Less lonely. During the day Bede has Opal, but it’s nice to know that he can go home and have someone too, even if that someone rarely talks or spends time with him. The presence is enough.

\--

Bede knocks on Hop’s door lazily. It’s early, and Bede already has his camping gear secured in a large pink backpack over his shoulder and a studded leather jacket Marnie had giftedto him when he officially became Gym Leader. He cups one hand around his mouth and calls toward the door. “Hey, I’m going into the Wild Area outside of Hammerlocke for a week or so. Will you be able to hold down fort here on your own?”

There’s no answer for a couple seconds. Hop must still be asleep. Well, whatever. Bede resigns to leave a note by the table. 

He’s about to leave when he hears muffled movement from the other side of the door. Then, after a few beats of silence, the door suddenly opens in Bede’s face.

“Take me with you,” Hop says, in a tone that leaves no room for argument. 

Bede stares at him indignantly. He’d been all packed and ready to go for this moment. Now he needs to consider extra rations, camping arrangements-

“I was a field researcher for a time in Unova. Come on, let me go with you.”

...Bede will admit the field researcher thing piqued his interest. He was trying to catch more Dynamax Pokemon for a favor that Sonia had asked of him, and this really was the first time he was going camping out on a research mission. Maybe Hop’s help would be appreciated. And he never went outside of the house, anyway. Maybe this would be good for him.

“Alright,” Bede says. “Grab your things. You have ten minutes.”

Hop is surprisingly fast. They’re off in five.

* * *

“Why didn’t you let me Dynamax in that one?”

“It was a Dynamaxed Tsareena, and a strong one. Your Fairy-types wouldn’t have been much use against it, Dynamaxed or not. It was better used on my Pokemon.

“What do you mean? Candy Floss is plenty strong.”

“When you’re going up against Dynamax Pokemon with another Dynamax Pokemon, you should always go for type advantages. Otherwise, they’re substantially harder to take down, especially when they put up a barrier. Your Rapidash doesn’t know any moves particularly strong against it. My Talonflame does. Besides, it doesn’t matter who Dynamaxed, in the end. You got your Tsareena.”

“It’s a matter of pride. I wouldn’t expect you to get it.”

Bede doesn’t miss the way Hop’s eyes flit to Bede’s wrists. “No, I guess I wouldn’t.”

\--

“Um. Stop putting all the spicy berries in?”

“Why? I like spice.”

“Yes, but I’m not particularly fond.”

“So?”

“...And my Pokemon aren’t either?”

“Well, my Pokemon are.”

“This is my cooking pot, you know.”

“I do know. I just don’t care.”

“When did you get so rude?”

“What do you mean? I like spicy food. What’s so rude about that?”

“It’s _rude_ because now me and my Pokemon don’t get to eat any!”

Hop shrugs. “You’ll live.”

Bede just nearly rips his hair out in frustration.

* * *

“ _What_ do you think you’re doing?”

Hop doesn’t respond at first, just keeps letting the Pangoro whittle his Meowstic down. The Pangoro slashes at his Meowstic in one fatal, devastating blow, and the white light of Hop’s Pokeball recalls it. He then sends out his Talonflame and traps the opposing Pokemon in a fire spin. The Pangoro roars.

Bede grabs Hop’s wrist. “Stop,” he hisses, but Hop still isn’t paying attention. He pulls an Ultra Ball out of his out of his pocket, enlarges it, and throws.

In that moment, Bede realizes two things.

One, that Hop is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals, even at the cost of others’ wellbeing.

Two, that Hop no longer throws like Leon. 

His attention turns to the Ultra Ball, now on the floor. It shakes once, twice, three times. Then a _click_. 

It doesn’t feel victorious at all, though. When Hop walks forward and picks up the Ultra Ball, looking at it curiously, Bede feels as though the Pangoro would’ve been better off in the wild.

Bede shakes his head. Tell Hop to release the Pokemon. He shouldn’t be allowed to do this, not under Bede’s supervision as a Gym Leader. He walks forward. “Hop, you should release Pangoro.”

Hop gives him a blank stare. “Why? I caught it.”

Bede grits his teeth. “Because that was clear abuse of your Pokemon?”

“It wasn’t abuse. It was strategy.”

_It wasn’t abuse. It was strategy._ Something about that strikes personal to him. 

That sets Bede off. “What is _wrong_ with you? You waltz back into Galar like it’s nothing, all mysterious and different and sporting a weird new Pokemon team and I let you stay with me because maybe some part of me still feels like I _owe_ you for all the words I said back then, but this is pressing it! I let you go on this mission with me because I thought you’d be _help!_ All you’ve done so far is hog my work, hog my cooking pot, and now you’ve just wasted one good Full Restore by using your Meowstic like that!”

Bede is fuming, but Hop just stares back at him, as calm as ever. There’s a new layer of intensity on his face, though. Hop speaks his next words slowly. “What do you want me to say to that?”

Bede officially gives up. “Ugh- I- I don’t want you to say anything! Just release your Pangoro and you can explain all your actions later!”

Hop shrugs, and pulls out his Rotom Phone. With a few presses, the Ultra Ball in his hands starts glowing a white light, and Hop presses the button on it. The Pangoro jumps out, roaring and angry. Upon seeing Bede and Hop at the ready with their Pokemon, though, it retreats back into the forest.

Bede is quaking with anger. He lets out a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

It’s only later when he realizes that Hop had been shaking, too.

* * *

  
  
  


There are goons loitering outside his gym. 

Or, at least, Bede assumes they’re goons. They’re all dressed in this tacky bright red that burns itself into Bede’s skull. Not to mention the sunglasses. In _Ballonlea._ How are they even seeing anything?

Bede had just returned to his gym after that fiasco of a research mission, only to be welcomed with _this?_

He calls out to them. “Hey! Move away! You're crowding the entrace!”

They don’t appear to be listening. Upon closer inspection, Bede notices that they are poking around with some kind of rock. And, as Bede approaches the goons, he notices the rock is glowing a faint pinkish-red. Ah. A Wishing Piece.

He claps his hands twice in a typical showman fashion. The grunts (finally) look up at him, like deer caught in headlights. 

“Do you know anything about this here rock?” one of them says.

Bede is almost impressed by his arrogance.

One of the other grunts nods. “Yes, we were curious as where these rocks were from. Some locals told us they were from a Legendary.”

“Yes, indeed. A great one, at that! There are legends and tapestries around it. Have you heard of the Darkest Day?”

Bede is losing brain cells by the second. He has to stop this before it escalates. “Are you challengers? If not, please leave the premises of my gym. You’re crowding.” Not to mention distracting. Bede’s eyes are burning off at the burning hot red of their suits. 

One of them nods. “Right, right. We just wanna know more information.”

“Yeah. Particularly about the Pokemon this rock comes from.”

Bede waves them off. “There’s a lab in Wedgehurst. Go there.”

The goons shoot each other looks for a couple moments, and then shuffle off without a word. Bede watches them go with relief. Great. Now he could properly open up the gym.

He notices that the rock is still there. He shrugs, and pockets it. It’s not like he can just find these anywhere, and Gloria’s not going to just let him crack off a chunk of Eternatus.

He looks off into the distance. The red goons are nowhere in sight. That’s the last of them, he guesses.

Oh, how wrong he was. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


When he gets home, Hop is on the couch watching T.V. instead of in his room. 

_Gloria has once again decimated Leon at the Battle Tower! She may be the strongest Champion to date in Galar’s history, though the fabled Mu-”_

Hop has paused the T.V. He gives a tentative smile. “That’s my brother, right? Leon, on the T.V.?”

“...Yeah. Did you forget or something?”

“No, no, he just looks. Different, is all.” Hop turns to Bede. “Oh, I almost forgot to say! Welcome home, Bede!”

_This is creepy._ Bede takes off his jacket and throws it over his shoulder. “What’s with the sudden change in attitude?”

Hop rubs his arms. “Uh, I guess I just had a change of heart?”

Bede scowls. “I’m not taking that for an answer. You remember what you said on that research mission.”

Hop looks away from Bede. Okay, so he isn’t going to answer. Bede sighs. “I’m-”

“I think I should tell you some of the things about what happened to me. Over the past five years.”

Bede’s mouth is suddenly strangely dry. He sucks in a breath. “Continue.”

There’s shuffling from the couch. “I, uh, worked in Kalos for a while under a professor who wasn’t too great. He told me Pokemon were tools to be used. I believed him.”

“I thought you to be less gullible.”

Bede laughs disbelievingly. “Did you really?”

“...Yes. No matter your skills as a trainer or your overwhelming recklessness, you do have some sense in you. Which is why I was so startled when you let your Pokemon get so beat up like that. It wasn’t like you.”

“No… I suppose it wasn’t.”

Hop pulls his knees in and closes his eyes. He almost looks a bit peaceful, and Bede is suddenly aware of just how tired he is. 

He sighs, and strides to the couch. With one click of the remote, the Battle Tower comes back to life, and Leon in all his glory.

Bede crosses one leg over the other and rests his arms on then. At his side, Hop is curled up like a ball. 

They sit in together in peace for the rest of the night.

**Author's Note:**

> leave a comment if you enjoyed. this will update semi-regularly because i want to get it done but i have like 4 art commissions in queue at the moment and school just started so i'm a bit occupied


End file.
